[smokinleroy]

I'll be the first to say there ARE no liberal "great minds"

[Alberta's Child]

I think I remember reading your post over there at DU -- it was a couple of days after the election, right? Don't tell them, but I am a "member" who lurks and posts there in the interest of subversion.

[Cogadh na Sith]

Who are the "greaat minds" that, if not actually lead the party, at least back it up with the facts, stats and examples?

Being a product of the heart and not the mind, liberalism doesn't rely on facts, stats and examples. Nor does any 'liberal' actually live as their sensitivities dictate others live--they live according to libertarian or conservative principles.

You're left with Micheal Moore, Al Franken, Paul Wellstone, Robert Reich, Jocelyn Elders, Al Gore, and Noam Chomsky to read.

Good luck....

[Mark]

Oh, Grasshopper! You have come from the Darkside. Just stay awhile, engage in postings-- but mainly listen. AND keep a sense of humor!!

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

I am a registered small-L libertarian, meaning I actually support some very liberal ideas as well as some very conservative ideas.

You're not a Libertarian, because Libertarians don't support liberal ideas.

[Doug Loss]

I am seeking the best, most informed, cogently written, fact based, backed up, credible sources of liberal thought.

We are, of course, biased. Personally, I tend to think that there are very few "fact based, backed up, credible sources of liberal thought." Having said that, if I were you I'd try reading material from Christopher Hitchens and Nat Henthoff.

[donozark]

Most of their "great minds" are corpses. Marx. Lenin. Ho. Ans soon to-be-dead, Castro. My heart pumps peanut-butter for the afore-cited individuals, as well as Dems in general.

[borisbob69]

Welcome...and good luck in your search for the Great Minds of Liberalism. Unfortunately, liberals tend to react from their emotional center rather than using any logic when confronted with a decision making situation.

Liberal didn't always mean mindless and void. As recently as JFK democrats who were liberal were actually quite similar to many of us on this forum. Small(er) government, less taxes, individual freedoms, etc.

With the advent of PC, and the victim mentality coupled with the "nanny state", the difference between conservatives and libs is like the gulf encountered by the rich man when he spoke with Lazarus.

Like Rush Limbaugh always says when describing libs...they are long on image...and short on substance.

[bobg]

I listen to Neal Boortz on radio from Atlanta. He is a strong libertarian and cannot seem to get away from the fact that the Libertarian Party has almost no influence. The only thing they do is this.... everyone who votes Libertarian in effect has the same effect as taking a vote away from the Republican, which is the same as voting for the doomacrat.

A friend and I were county co-chairmen for Jimmy Carter in his presidential race, based on his being a nice religious person. I was in his Atlanta headquarters when the New Hampshire primary victory was announced. By the end of Carter's 4 years we were both Republicans. Trying to run a small business when interest rates approached 20 percent was a nightmare. The Panama Canal give away was the last straw.

Come on and join the Republican party. It is not perfect, but so much better than the others.

[farmfriend]

It's not what you are looking for but here is a great book that will expand your mind.

[SGCOS]

... Apparently there is a flame war between your two sites...

Oh, that's not true. They're just a$$holes.

[bubbac]

Not really sure who the great "thinkers" are . . . hmmm. . . Karl Marx? V.I. Lenin? Margaret Sanger?

But I can definitely suggest some more conservative thinkers that you should acquaint yourself with. They're old, but definitely the foundation of modern conservative thought, or at least should be. Russell Kirk and Edmund Burke are two of the most important. Actually, a great selection of conservative articles can be found in Liberty Press's Modern Age-The First Twenty-Five Years.

[Coop]

Welcome to the forum. Stick around. This place is a wonderful resource, and while it does have a conservative tilt, you'll see articles and publications from across the spectrum.

I am seeking the best, most informed, cogently written, fact based, backed up, credible sources of liberal thought.

I personally suggest Barbra Streisand, Alec Baldwin, and Jesse Jackson. :-)

[anniegetyourgun]

Welcome to FR. The treatment you received by the lib/dems should not be a surprise to you.....unless you are still laboring under the impression that that party is 'the party of the working man.' They have long since left their roots and are now the party of the man who won't work. In fact, they are like what they support - the party of Clinton, Kennedy, Condit, Rostenkowski, Trafficant, and the other Clinton.

[jpl]

Good first post, and welcome to Free Republic. My personal opinion is that E.J. Dionne is one of the more lucid, cogent liberal authors today, even though I disagree with most of his views. If you really want to get to the primary sources of thought from which modern leftism springs, you need to study the writings of Saul Alinsky and Antonio Gramsci. They are two of the founding fathers of modern liberal (or leftist) thought.

[canadiancapitalist]

John Kenneth Galbraith, socialist economist

[slouch-no-more]

Welcome to FR! So, you're looking for a great liberal mind, eh? Well, Jeffrey, since you've spent some time at DU, then you're aware that almost all liberals simply adore Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. So.... read "Earth in the Balance". Then read "It takes a Village". When you're finished with these two volumes, you will understand the liberal "stockpile of substance and ideas".

Then come back here for a reality check!

[andrew]

Well, if you go to college they will fill you to the gills with a bunch of 'social critics' collectively known as the Frankfurt School. They are known as Social Marxists, and had huge influence in affecting American culture. I would argue for the worse.

They basically took the economic theories of Marx and Hegel and applied them to social constructs.

Among the most important of these thinkers associated with this movement are Antonio Gramsci, Herbert Marcuse, Theodor Adorno.

Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida are major figures of the modern left who drew upon the Franfurtites. Mention any of the above names at college faculty cocktail party and watch eyes light up.

While I disagree with all of the above with every fiber of my being, they are clearly smart fellas whose works and ideas are the tools by which the left helps shape mass opinion.

Study Marcuse's infleunce in shaping anti-Vietnam War sentiment, specifically his coining of the slogan "Make Love, Not War".

Upon getting up to speed with these intellectual deviants, you will see why the left is made up of so many activist groups broken down by identity politics. It becomes so transparent that a cultural conspiracy of mammoth proportions has taken place, it may take you a few days to beckon the courage to walk outside for a few days.

[Bush2000]

Your experience at DU is a just a reflection of liberal thinking in general. They will not tolerate discussion which conflicts with their world view. Why? Because they know, in their hearts, that their political view lie on a faulty foundation; that is, they cannot defend them with logic and, therefore, their only recourse is to fall back on censoring you or making emotional appeals which have little or nothing to do with reality. They can't defend the fact that the Great Society introduced by FDR hasn't succeeded in wiping out poverty, even though we've spent 60-some years and trillions of dollars trying. They can't defend harebrained income redistribution schemes that result in a staggeringly unfair tax burden from those with higher incomes. They can't defend their constant attempts to assert Constitutional rights that simply don't exist in the Constitution (see Roe v. Wade and tell me where privacy was every asserted as a fundamental right by the Founders). They can't defend their attempts to ban firearms, bleed corporate America for (gasp) being successful, establish a nationalized health care system, assert government ownership of private property on the basis of fraudulent environmental policy, obstruct alternate domestic energy sources, protect unions at the expense of our children and the economy, or redirect military spending to their cockamamie social programs. The list goes on and on and on ...

[stands2reason]

Democrat ping! Can you guys help?